The country of Afghanistan is far from simple. It has been laden with war for years upon years and has gone through four governments since the 1970’s. Whole generations of Afghan people have grown up knowing nothing but war and poverty. Presently, many would associate it with religious extremists and battlegrounds. War, however, is no the only thing Afghanistan is made up of. Afghanistan’s complexity is due to religious and class differences, strong reliance on upholding tradition, and an unstable, constantly changing government, along with war and poverty. These complexities make Afghanistan a land of contradictions and contrasts, a land that is will not be fixed with a simple, five step plan. Religion and ethnicity plays an enormous part…show more content… Other religious people were persecuted for their beliefs if they did not coincide with Islamic laws. Since the Taliban have left, religious extremism has reduced and oppressed people have started to speak out and regain their rights. In the novel The Kite Runner, the main character, Amir, encounters the Taliban in his adult life. He witnesses a stoning of two deemed adulterers, a man and a woman. The author describes the man after the stoning as “a mangled mess of blood and shredded rags.” Even before the Taliban arrived, religion played a large part in Afghanistan, dictating holidays and celebrations. It also played a part in separating classes and ethnicity. The Pashtun people in Afghanistan were very successful people overall, while the Hazara people were treated as less than the Pashtun. Hazara people, as exemplified in The Kite Runner, relied heavily on religion, while the Pashtun did not. The characters Ali and his son Hassan, both Hazara, are very devout Muslims, praying every day. They are the servants of Amir and his father, Baba, who are Pashtun. Amir and Baba are much more successful and do not follow Islam strictly, Baba drinking alcohol and smoking cigars. The heavy reliance on religion